The Letters of Life : A JONAS Alphabet
by MacyBear17
Summary: A collection of mini-fics taking us thru the lives of our fav rockstars and their friends...Stories of friendship, love, misunderstandings, heartbreak and everything that make life what it is... for rockstars atleast. Unashamedly Nacy, Joella and Kevielle
1. A for Adorable

_**A/N : Hi there!... Thanks to all you awesome readers and reviewers out there, my muse seems to be working overtime this week. Just couldn't help writing this little thing before i finish the weekend... hope you guys like it... it's going to be an A-Z alphabet series... slightly different in the fact that all the little independent fics are going to be following the same timeline... i.e. they happen one after another, if there is a time gap, i'll mention it in the fic itself. So taken together, all the mini-fics are gonna read like a long story... or atleast that's what i am going for here. Hope to get the most out of my muse here before the idea well dries up giving me writer's block again.**_

_**Wish me luck!... Here's the first of the series... hope you guys like it... review and tell me...**_

* * *

><p><strong>A for Adorable<strong>

It had seemed like such a normal day.

Nick had gotten up, late as usual due to the fact that he had spent half the night writing up the song that had plagued him for the last week or so, showered hurriedly, yanked on some clothes that the Stellavator (_patent __**still**__ pending_) had given him. Then, he had shoved some books and his ever-present songbook into a satchel…

Tried to escape without having breakfast but had been caught sneaking out with a power bar in hand by his mom, given a long lecture on the benefits of a good breakfast and how he should be more careful because he was diabetic (_this was the third such lecture this week so it had gotten to a stage in which he could literally recite whatever his mom had said out of memory_), been made to eat at least one pancake before escaping, successfully this time to get to school on the nick of time. Get it, 'nick' of time?... yeah... I didn't think it was a good joke either...

In other words, pretty much your average morning. Goes to show you how appearances can be so deceiving.

In still other words, Nicholas Jerry Lucas, singer, songwriter extraordinaire and one third of the world famous band JONAS, had no idea that he was about to start on the wildest ride of his life. A mind-boggling roller coaster that would span his lifetime, change everything he ever thought he knew about life and himself and make him the happiest man on earth in the process. But that's not for some time now, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Right... Where were we?... Oh yes... your run of the mill morning. Nick had just entered the hallowed halls of Horace Mantis High when the warning bell went off. Relaxing a little, he had at least fifteen minutes before he had to be in class, he sauntered on to his locker hoping to meet his brothers and friends there. Right on cue, Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee chose to make an appearance.

As usual, his brothers were in the process of planning some super-stupid but of course highly complicated and dangerous plan to hustle the lunch lady out of an extra sloppy joe each at the cafeteria. Somehow, Nick just knew that he was going to have a part to play in this master plan of theirs. Actually he had seen a dorky stick figure labelled 'Nick' standing in the cafeteria entrance in the scale model of the school that Kevin was holding. The plan seemed to be involving some duct-tape, fire extinguisher foam, lots of rope and bizarrely, an otter playing a trumpet. Oh right... he had forgotten who was talking here.

Anything that involved Kevin involved an otter playing a trumpet. It was almost like a calling card of some sort. You know, like the clues famous thieves and burglars leave behind, almost taunting the law enforcement to catch them... yeah... Kevin liked to involve animals playing musical instruments in his plans. They were good for distraction purposes though, you had to give him that. So if an animal of some sort was involved, you knew that Kevin had been at least partly responsible for whatever destruction ensued.

Nick always liked to think of himself as the sensible one, the serious one or even the intelligent one... seeing as he _**was**_ three points shy of being a genius... But he could never figure out how, he always seemed to end up right in the middle of one of Kevin and Joe's outrageous plans. Sighing to himself, he listened in on the plan, thinking it was better if he knew the whole picture right from the beginning if he was to minimize the damage later.

The three brothers had been huddled around the model of the school when it had happened.

Joe had looked up to check if anyone was in hearing range and had failed to look back down for some time. Not having heard anything from him for almost a minute now and growing irritated, Nick had looked up to see what had caught and held his brother's attention... and found himself staring too... almost open mouthed.

This was new... completely and utterly new. Nick Lucas never stared at anyone open mouthed... never. It just didn't happen. It hadn't happened when they had met and seen the legendary guitarist 'Lefty Bojangles' perform when he had been scarcely 13 years old and it as sure as all that wasn't gonna happen now. With difficulty, he snapped his mouth shut, trying to appear nonchalant in the face of all consuming astonishment.

Apparently, he had failed... epically... in disguising his reaction if Stella Malone's expression was anything to go by. Or maybe she was just glorying in the fact that she had reduced Joe to a pile of love sick mush right there on the hallway of the school and the school day hadn't even started yet. The middle brother and the usually suave front man of their band, was drooling... literally.

But we have to give Joe some latitude here. I mean... this was _**Stella**_... Of course Joe would be drooling. Joe had been crazy about Estella Marie Malone ever since she stepped... no stormed into their lives at the ripe old age of 6. Joe had spilt some juice on his shirt (_there was a period when they weren't as cool as they are now... even now, they're not as cool as you think they are... exhibit A... Joe... drooling. Enough said_) and had been getting laughed at in class when Stella had stormed up to his table, dragged him off to the lockers by his cuff and dabbed his shirt with seltzer (_why she had seltzer in her locker no one thought to ask..._), all the while muttering about expensive fabrics and clumsy boys.

It had been the start of a beautiful friendship, on Stella's part at least. Joe had been a goner the moment she looked up at him, smiled and said 'you have pretty hair'... yeah... Joe was that shallow... just kidding. He had been that obsessed with his hair... not kidding this time. Her hair comment might have gotten Joe to notice Stella but it was her enthusiasm, her fashion sense, her resourcefulness and her passion for whatever she did, not to mention beautiful blonde hair and eyes that belonged on Bambi that had kept Joe looking.

And look he had... for ten years now, Joe had been only looking. Never having gathered the courage to ask her out even though Stella couldn't have been clearer in displaying her interest in taking their friendship further, Joe had settled to admiring her from afar. Till now... there was no way he was going to be able to stand by the side and just watch now. She had just upped the game and if he didn't react and fast, Joe would definitely lose out to another guy who did have the courage to ask Stella out... most probably Van Dyke Tosh aka the bane of Joseph Adam Lucas' life.

But Nick... no he hadn't been staring at Stella. He had been staring at something... or rather someone exactly a third of a foot away from her. At first, Nick hadn't been able to recognize the girl who had been strutting down the stairs with Stella, looking for all intents and purposes, as if they both had just stepped off the covers of a sports fashion magazine.

The usually straight brown hair which was almost always tied up in a pony tail had been given some sort of treatment that made it look all shiny, soft and the color of toffee with hints of caramel in it somewhere... hmmm... maybe skipping breakfast had not been such a hot idea after all, if the weird feeling in his stomach was anything to go by (yeah right... all the food references did not give it away at all... :P) It now rested in bouncy waves framing a face that had been lightly made up.

The rest of it, he almost didn't wanna go into. Nick had never thought he would have difficulty in keeping his thoughts on level when it came to Macy... _**Macy**_ ... She had to be the last girl ever that he would've thought he would find it difficult to take his eyes off... and here he was, doing exactly that.

Both Stella and Macy were dressed in sporty tennis dresses with matching wrist bands, socks and tennis shoes. Each of them carried a tennis racquet in its sleeve. The dresses were obviously Stella originals as Nick thought that normal tennis skirts were never _**that**_ short. Of course, Stella would've designed them with knocking out Joe in mind. Hence the shortness of the dress... it sometimes astonished him how clueless his brothers were sometimes.

But even Stella may not have factored into exactly how... he couldn't even say it... alright, alright... he was no prude... exactly how sexy Macy looked in the outfit. Her sports toned body and her light summer tan was showed off to maximum effect in the outfit and Nick couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't noticed it before.

Stella's outfit was of course pink (duh!) while Macy's was a spring green with a darker green design on it. Macy had on a cute light green sun visor to match while Stella's hair had been tied back with a sparkly pink and white band.

But the most noticeable difference in the two was the expressions they had on their faces as they walked up to the boys. Stella looked as if she was marching to her death, while Macy... she was so excited she glowed... She was almost bouncing on every step, her excitement obvious to everyone in a square mile radius. She seemed to be blissfully unaware of the reaction the two of them had gotten from the people, mostly boys, populating the halls of Horace Mantis High.

For a second, Nick almost wanted to growl in annoyance at the way all the boys seemed to be staring Macy as if she was a thing to be obtained... not a person... but he shrugged out of it, surprised at himself for feeling such a strong emotion for Macy of all people. As he listened in on the one-sided conversation going on between the girls, he heard Macy extolling the virtues of the game of tennis while offering to teach Stella to play it.

Stella, to her credit, didn't cringe too openly when Macy mentioned running and hitting and serving, smashing, lobbing and a dozen other tennis terms... terms which obviously involved (shudder) physical work and (bigger shudder) sweat. Then it struck him... today was the last day for signing up for some sport. Yeah... you had to take up some sport as an extra-curricular activity if you wanted to ever graduate and leave the horrific halls of Horace Mantis. It figured that Stella would put it off till the last possible moment.

Last semester, she had wriggled out of selecting a sport by offering to make new uniforms for the school teams and backed by the hordes of pleading girls, the P.E. teacher had given in. This time, there was no such option open to Stella and she was going to have to enroll for some P.E. class. That explained the death-march expression on her face. It also explained the excitement that Macy was radiating.

Sports, you name it and she's awesome at it... were Macy's first love. Sorry... make that second... no third love. Actually make that second... for now. She still isn't aware of the part she's gonna be playing in her rock star's life yet. It's not that she's not crushing on him, she is... majorly. But the feelings aren't that deep yet. She doesn't know him all that well and he hasn't given her any opportunity to think of him as a friend and a normal person and not a rock star.

Getting back to sports, Macy was the captain of half a dozen of the school's sports teams... only because she refused to head more teams, offering to give up the captaincy to another player in return for a place in the squad. That reminded Nick that he had yet to go to a single game of Macy's. Something both his brothers and Stella had been urging him to do, telling him that his idea of Macy would change radically if he just attended one of her games.

Today, he decided that he would go to the tennis game that she was obviously gonna play. Even he didn't want to delve too deeply into his reasons for making that decision. Something had changed today... he didn't want to think what. He knew himself not to be so shallow that seeing Macy in the outfit that morning had influenced him so much.

Forcibly pulling himself out of his Macy reverie, he focused on the real thing in front of him, belatedly realizing that he had missed the first part of their conversation. Macy was still rocking back and forth on her heels, almost as if she was raring to go. Her blinding smile hit him like a two-by-four as she turned to greet him and he barely got out a response. A little bit of his brain started to function again as she turned to the others to continue her conversation and just one word flashed through his mind... Adorable.

He didn't know what made him think it but he had to give in to it... she was adorable. There was no other word for it. Her sunny smile, her openness, her generosity coupled with her enthusiasm and child-like innocence made for a potent combination and it was just now having a major effect on Nick. He realized that she was the exact opposite of what he was. And some corner of his being was whispering that that was how things fit. She was going to be the yang to his yin. Being an intelligent guy, he recognized it... he was in trouble... big trouble. But by god, was he going to enjoy the merry ride she was going to lead him on.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN : Hope you liked it guys... review your thoughts and ideas on what you might like to read in this story collection in the future. I'll try and incorporate your thoughts... remember... your reviews keep the muse alive :)**_


	2. B for Bad Day

_**A/N : Here's the next chapter in our alphabet series guys... hope you'll all enjoy this journey fun filled ficlet where poor Nick and Macy have really very bad days... but fret not, i'll never make them suffer too much... without taking too much more of your time, i just wanna say one thing b4 letting you get to the chapter... Thank you all for your great response... I love reading your reviews and hearing your opinions... **_

_**I would love to hear any ideas that you might have or any words you might want me to write chapters on... or maybe even situations you might want me to weave into the storyline or something... just send a review or a msg and i'll try n get it done... Now, i'll let you get one with the reading...**_

* * *

><p><strong>B for Bad Day<strong>

Nicholas Jerry Lucas, singer, songwriter and one third of the world famous band JONAS, was not a happy person today morning. In fact, it could be said that he was kinda having a bad day.

"Joseph Adam and Kevin Percy Lucas… you guys better hide cuz when I find you I am gonna _**kill**_ you!" Nick Lucas' usually mellow voice echoed the walls of Horace Mantis High that morning. Usually, he would've gone with Kevin's name first but today's events smacked too much of Joe's brand of childishness. Plus, there had been no animals involved, which almost surely meant that the eldest of the three siblings had played only a small part in the events unfolded.

Joe may be stupid sometimes but even he was intelligent enough to hide from Nick after having tricked him that morning. Currently, the older Lucas brothers were hiding in an empty classroom, snickering over the series of tricks they had successfully pulled over their usually sharp younger brother today.

Nick had woken up late again, this time due his alarm clock not going off, he had rushed into the bathroom to find the door cling wrapped, toothpaste and shaving cream had somehow traded places (_he still couldn't get the weird taste of the shaving cream out of his mouth…yuck!... he had been so sleepy when he had started brushing that a couple of seconds into the process he hadn't made the distinction_), his towel had been missing (_he'd had to bribe the Frankster to get him one and their little brother didn't do anything cheap…_) and to top it all off, they had hidden his song book that he always carried to school along with him to scribble down any good lyrics or a piece of melody that came to him.

All these childish tricks wouldn't have had him down had it not been the confusing dream he had had about Macy the previous night. He might've noticed all these stupid tricks and sidestepped them had he been his normal self. But he was not. Macy, clad in her short light green tennis dress had been parading through his head incessantly for the last week. Ever since he had seen her that day, something had changed. Whether it was due to the dress (_was he really that shallow?...he hoped not…_) or it was Macy's behavior towards them (_completely normal, no signs of fainting, hyperventilation or excited screaming_) or maybe, it was simply a case of right place at the right time.

Nick growled under his breath in frustration. Not only had he not been able to write anything worth repeating for the last week, he had also not been able to get a good night's sleep. His head was hurting, he was feeling miserable and he simply hadn't wanted to get out of bed today. And to top all the misery off with a cherry, not only had he given his brothers the satisfaction of having fallen for every single one of their stupid tricks, he had also had no time for his morning cup of coffee or breakfast because of them. And everyone…and I mean simply _**everyone**_ knew that you didn't get between Nick Lucas and his morning caffeine shot. Without coffee or at least a diet coke inside him, Nick was terrible company in the mornings.

As a consequence, he was too busy stomping down the hallways of the school, doing a fine imitation of a ticked off Godzilla, to notice where he was going. Too intent on rooting out his recalcitrant brothers out and tearing them apart, he was surprised when he felt a decidedly soft but somehow strong body collide with his. If that hadn't told him it was a girl he had hit, the squeal that followed would've cleared his brain. Unfortunately, Nick Lucas was in a peculiar state today due to the severe lack of caffeine and sleep and the usually polite and courteous boy had had it up to the limit.

Feeling singularly unapologetic, he righted himself from the stumble and commenced shooting a death glare at the poor excuse for a human that had had the gall to step in his way that morning. And promptly got the wind knocked out of his sails. For standing in front of him, looking slightly annoyed (_can you believe it?... how far has she come… you go girl!_), was Macy. Still dallying on how he was going to react to her, I mean… he wasn't sure whether he was going to settle for just a glare or was he gonna go the whole hog and use some pointed sarcasm?... His brain was leaning towards the pointed sarcasm just because it was still feeling a little vengeful from his brothers' actions that morning when he noticed that Macy was now looking more annoyed than ever.

This was a new experience too… Macy had never before looked annoyed at a Lucas… especially Nick Lucas. So Nick had absolutely no idea what had triggered the annoyance or how to react to this unexpected emotion from her. Still not sure whether he was gonna just chicken out and apologize or go all out and demand one from her, Nick found that actually had only one option… to shut up and listen….

Before Nick could even open his mouth to speak, Macy had launched into a full blown rant that contained everything from the blasted weather to overblown egos and clumsy rock stars in it. Nick was kinda hoping that the overblown ego thing had not been about him… though with the new Macy, one never knew.

"Nick!... Could you please look before you stomp the next time?... you not only literally slammed into me but you also stepped on my foot with your clumsy loafers… I have had a morning you wouldn't believe and I am not in the mood for babying irritated rock stars today. So please… just leave or I'll have to knock you down… and believe me I am not lying about being able to do it…"

Suddenly, all his irritation was forgotten as he glimpsed a sheet of tears coating Macy's over-bright hazel eyes. He could see that she had been pushed to the limit and just like that, the polite, friendly and caring Nick Lucas was back.

"Hey…. Mace… Relax… Everything will be okay… Do you wanna tell me what's wrong?..."

He queried in a soft voice as he pulled her to him slowly, looping an arm around her stiff shoulders. Macy relaxed a bit but seemed like she was ready to cry. Nick got out of everyone else's way and pulled an unresisting Macy down the corridor into an empty classroom before turning to see her eyes welling up with more tears. Uncomfortable with a crying girl in front of him, he awkwardly pulled out a bunch of tissues and handed them to her.

"Macy… do you want me to go get Stella?... would you feel better if she was here to talk to you?"

Quickly shaking her head no, Macy hurriedly wiped her tears and blew her nose before looking up at Nick and giving him a sorta watery half smile.

"Thanks for the offer Nick… But it's just that. I am feeling miserable because Stella and I had an argument yesterday and haven't been speaking with each other since then. Plus, I woke up late today, looking like I'd survived world war three… and not that well cuz I had cried myself to sleep after our fight last night. I wanted to say sorry for fighting with Stella so I went to the Starbucks to get her favorite coffee, and get myself something cuz I hadn't had breakfast…cuz you know the getting up late…."

Macy had started normally, but as she went on, the emotions resurfacing had made her speed up further and further. She stopped for a deep breath before continuing at the same breakneck speed, making it difficult for Nick to understand what she was saying.

"Then when I finally got to school, I found that because I had stopped at the coffee shop, I had missed two team meetings that I really shouldn't have missed cuz you know… I am the captain and all… So coach was very angry and gave me extra work _**and**_ detention… even before school had started for the day. Plus I have a big math test that I don't think I've studied all that well for… then you bumped into me and I… I jus don't know… I guess I lost it a little bit…"

"Whoa Macy… you certainly have had a bad day till now… But it's gonna be alright okay?... Things'll start lookin up soon and you'll be back to your normal sunny self again…"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Nick… you don't know how much difference it's made… I think things are already starting to look up… Anyways… I told you about my bad day… what's wrong with you?... I mean what happened to make you so irritated? I almost expected to see laser bolts shoot out of your eyes when you glared at me back then…"

Nick shrugged, smiling a bit sheepishly as Macy chuckled a bit, teasing him lightly

"Sorry about that… I guess I was also having a bit of a bad day…"

"What happened?... Writer's block?..."

"I almost wish I had writer's block compared to the morning I've had…" he sighed and launched into a detailed description of that morning's events which by the time he ended with their hallway encounter, had Macy almost rolling around with laughter.

"Oh my god!... I am so sorry Nick… I had no idea…. Mmpphh…"

She couldn't stop laughing to even apologize to him. It brought an unusually wide smile to his face to be able to make her laugh like that when she had been down in the dumps. After she got all the mirth out of her system, Macy made a sincere effort to apologize for her reactions

"So sorry for laughing like that at your predicament Nick… I couldn't help myself… every time I thought I had it under control, I'd just think about the face you made when you described the taste of shaving cream and I'd crack up all over again… Wow!... it actually sounds like you've had a worse day than I've had…."

"Oh well… you know me… always like to be the best in everything… couldn't let you one up me even in having a bad day…" he shrugged in a self-deprecating way that was almost believable.

Turning around and rooting in the brown paper bag that she had been clutching in her hand when they had bumped into each other, Macy pulled out a Styrofoam cup with the Starbucks logo on it. It still had the coffee collar on, so it had to be hot and the aroma wafting from the cup was so tempting that Nick's brain was almost jumping inside his skull with longing. Smiling widely, she handed him the cup

"Seems like you could use it more than me… or Stella for that matter…"

He could see that it was black coffee and upon tasting it, with two sweeteners in it.

Ahhh!... Perfection. That was what it was. He could kiss Macy now… that was how thankful he was for her thoughtfulness. Hmmm… kissing Macy… it was… an intriguing prospect. NO!... no…no…no… Definitely not something to be thought about right now.

He just knew it… before he realized, he was blushing scarlet due to the thoughts of kissing the girl sitting in front of him. Turning abruptly, he tried to compose himself before turning back to Macy, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression

"Umm… Thanks for that Macy. You're a lifesaver… I absolutely needed that. Thanks a lot… uh…"

"No problem Nick… ummm…. Is everything alright? You seem… kinda flustered"

"Oh no its nothing… don't worry about it…"

"It's not your diabetes acting up again right?... you said that you hadn't had a proper breakfast today…."

"No no… it's definitely not that… I'm alright Mace… don't worry about it… ummm… We should… we should probably get to class if we don't wanna be late…"

Jumping up from her seat on a table, Macy slapped a hand to her forehead

"Oh… I totally forgot… you're right… we have to get to class. Thanks for listening Nick… Talking to you made me feel a whole lot better."

"You're welcome Mace… Actually, it is me who should thank you… You might've just saved the lives of the rest of JONAS by handing me your coffee… I definitely owe you one… and I plan to repay my dues… are you up for some ice cream after school? I know you like the sundaes at Mimi's a lot… Tell you what… you let me get you a sundae after school today and we'll consider ourselves even… What do you say?..."

"Oh sure… I would love to… but I don't think we can do it… I have detention after school…"

The excitement that had started shining on her face bled out at the thought of serving detention

"No problems Mace… as it is, I am staying back in school to work on a song… I could easily wait for you to get out of detention, get us some awesome ice cream and take you home…"

"If you're sure it's not too much trouble…."

"It's absolutely no trouble Macy… besides, what's a little bit of waiting between friends?..."

"Is that what we are Nick Lucas?... Friends?"

"Yup… friends… for now. I have a feeling that it's going to change to 'best friends' soon enough…"

Macy blushed a little at his comment and gifting him a wide smile, pulled him, guitar, book bag, coffee and all, back out into the hallway, before hurrying to their first class of the day.

Oh yeah… they were going to be very good friends… and maybe more too. Only time would tell… But for now, what had previously been a very bad day for both of them had just started looking very promising.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN : I would luv to hear your thoughts on this chapter and all others... any ideas on what you would like to read later are also welcome... remember... reviews are LOVE... :)**_


	3. C for Comfort

_**A/N: Hi!... First off, I wanna thank everyone that either read, reviewed, favorite-ed or put an alert on this story... You guys rock!... Hope everyone will like this chapter as much as they seem to have liked the previous ones... I completely feel for poor Nick in this one... I hate being sick too and it makes the experience a lot worse for me every time... But not to worry... He'll get better soon... Neways... I would love to hear your feedback on this and the other chapters... do review... even if it is to just say that it wasn't as good as you thought it would be... or that you liked it... it makes my day... :)**_

_**Disclaimer : Do not own JONAS... yet.**_

* * *

><p><strong>C for Comfort<strong>

Two hours after stumbling into Macy Misa that morning and ending up filching her coffee for his morning caffeine, Nick Lucas knew he was in trouble.

And no... It wasn't girl trouble this time. At least not right now. Nick knew that he hadn't been sleeping well over the last week (**_due to the one and only Macy Misa who it seemed, loved to star in his dreams_**) and he'd been the victim of the childish pranks that had been the brain-children of his inept brothers. He had no idea how he was even related to them. It's like maturity had just passed them by... Plus, he had skipped breakfast that day. So he had stupidly attributed his irritability, headaches and other symptoms to those reasons and hadn't paid closer attention... till now.

It had started dawning on him when he looked at the usual lunch fare and had wanted to run out of the cafeteria before he threw up. Plus, the headache that had been just an annoying niggle in the morning had now become a full blown jack hammer pounding the inside of his skull as if his brain had suddenly developed an interest in breaking out of its bony prison. He was starting to feel cold and his body ached all over. With the knowledge that he had been dreading, came the cold shiver of certainty. There was no escaping it... he was well on his way to falling sick.

You see, Nick Lucas hated being sick... absolutely, positively and without a doubt hated it more than anything in the entire universe. He would've cheerfully taken a dive into a crowd of rabid fans if he was given a choice between that or being sick in bed. He hated having a cold or a fever and the flu was just the pits. And now, he suspected with all his three-points-shy-of-genius intelligence that he had the dreaded flu bug.

Okay... he admitted that walking home in the rain while licking on an ice cream cone hadn't been the hottest idea he'd had in a while. Or maybe he had caught it from someone at school... maybe it was that Stavely kid who sat behind him in Trigonometry and had kept sniffing throughout the class. Oh! how he hated that kid with a passion now... How dare he pass on the flu to him?... As soon as he got back, that kid was going to get what was coming to him.

His thoughts had unconsciously brought him to stand in front of the school nurse's office. He knew the inside of that room as well as the nurse herself knew it... due to the innumerable trips he had made to it during Macy's obsessed fan phase. (**_Boy!.. was he glad that she had outgrown it._**) He had somehow always seemed to end up with double the share of bruises that Macy often gave to his brothers. Kevin and Joe had been teasing him in the beginning that Macy hurt him more cuz she liked him more. (**_Wouldn't his brothers have a field day if they came to know that he now wished what they had said then was true?_**)

The only person who supposedly noticed his rapid exit from the cafeteria had been his newest friend Macy. Being the generous soul she was, Macy followed him out and consequently to the door of the nurse's office. This was where she found Nick, shuffling from foot to foot in an awkward manner, frequently raising his hand to knock on the door, but chickening out in the last moment.

"Nick?... What's wrong?... are you alright?... I didn't hurt you without knowing it did I?"

The questions rushed out of her mouth as she noticed his nervous expression mingled with something else on his face. It might've been pain but she couldn't really place it.

"Oh Macy... no no... you didn't do anything wrong... It's just that... it's nothing Mace... Don't worry yourself about it..."

Despite not having been his friend for more than half a day, Macy knew Nick well enough to know that he was lying. Compound the fact that he was standing in front of the nurse's office after having run out of the cafeteria during lunch, looking as if he was in pain and the protective mama bear-side of Macy came out in full force.

"Nick... I know something is wrong. There's no use lying to me okay?... It would definitely be better if you told me the truth. I might be able to help you... That's what friends are for... tell me Nick..."

Nick sighed loudly, seeing that there was no escaping Macy's questioning and decided to tell her the truth. As if he was divulging a life-altering, earth shattering secret, he leaned close to her ear and in a small voice told her

"I think I'm coming down with the flu..."

Macy straightened, looking into his face intently, trying to find out if he was joking or prevaricating. He seemed to be utterly serious and quite out of depth at dealing with the situation

"Is that it?... you think you're coming down with the flu?"

Macy tried very hard to keep any surprise or what might be construed as sarcasm out of her voice... She and Nick had just become kinda-sorta friends that morning and she didn't want to be taking fourteen steps back to that one step forward.

Nick sighed, as if he had been expecting this sorta reaction from her and shrugged a little helplessly

"I know... I know you think I am making a huge deal out of this... mountain out of a molehill and all that... believe me I know... but it's just that... I hate it... hate it you know?... I completely hate being sick and not being able to do things... I hate the feeling of not being in control... of having to rely on other people to accomplish even the simplest of everyday tasks. Plus you understand how it's gonna be with my two brothers around..."

Macy actually appeared to be giving it some thought and he saw that when she looked up at him again, she had a sympathetic smile on her face

"I get where you're coming from... when you guys went on your last tour remember?... I broke my leg and had to stay in bed for two weeks... god!... it was bad... So yeah... I understand what you're saying... and I also feel for you because I know how Kevin and Joe can get. Tell you what... if you need a rescue, just message and Stella and I will take the two of them off your hands... deal?"

Nick just stared at Macy and at her extended hand before he shook it happily, feeling just a smidge better about falling sick.

"Now come on rock star... let's get the nurse to look at you..."

Nick's smile turned pained again as Macy knocked on the door in front of them and waited for him to enter before her. Stepping inside, they were met by the nurse, a middle aged plump lady with a permanent warm smile affixed on her visage. She was quite sympathetic and made all the right noises as she got him checked up before cheerfully pronouncing that he did have a fever of 101F and that it looked as if he had caught the flu bug that had been doing the rounds of the school lately.

She advised him plenty of fluids and rest and relaxation along with some cough and cold medications to help keep the symptoms at bay. Somehow, in a fever induced haze, Nick thanked her and followed Macy out of the room, finding himself firmly pulled towards the parking lot. He put up a token protest before Macy successfully shut him up with a pseudo-serious threat of knocking him out and dragging him home if he protested anymore. He strapped himself into her car as Macy pulled out her phone and informed Stella that Nick was sick and that she would be taking him home. She asked Stella to make excuses for the both of them and also inform the brothers of the development. Upon receiving the affirmative from her friend, Macy put the car into gear and soon they were on their way to the firehouse.

On the way, Macy insisted on stopping at a pharmacy, got Nick to wait for her in the car as they didn't want to have a mob chase them all the way home and made the necessary purchases. By the time she got back to the car, Nick was already asleep in the passenger seat, exhausted from the fever and lack of sleep for the last few days. Slowly easing out of the parking lot and driving to the firehouse at a much more careful, slower pace, Macy managed to reach their destination without waking Nick up. Parked at the back entrance of the firehouse to avoid all the fans camped out front, she now realized she faced a slight problem.

There was a sleeping rock star in her car and there was no way she could get him into the house by herself without waking him up. Thinking a little, she ran inside and came back out a minute later with Big Rob in tow. Upon being appraised of the situation, the huge man proceeded to carefully pull the sleeping form of the boy into his arms and took him upstairs to his bed, carrying him as if he weighed nothing more than a baby. After seeing him settled, Macy went back downstairs to explain the situation to Mrs. Lucas

"Hello Mrs. Lucas..."

"Hi there Macy!... what's up?... didn't you go to school today?"

"Oh I did Mrs. Lucas... actually I came here to drop Nick off... he wasn't feeling too well you see..."

Macy was a little uncomfortable explaining the situation to the parent. She had no idea what kind of reaction to expect from Nick's mom considering he'd had a freaky reaction to finding out that he was sick.

"Oh dear... Is he alright?... How was he taking it?..."

"Yes Mrs. Lucas... he's doing okay for now I think... the school nurse checked him out and said that it was probably just the flu bug. She advised lots of fluids and rest. I think he's gonna be okay quite soon... he was a little freaked out in the beginning but I guess he's getting better at dealing with it..."

Sandy Lucas heaved a sigh of relief

"It's just that Nick has always been the one that has to keep it together at all times. Everybody kind of expects Kevin or Joe to goof off once in a while but Nick... now he had developed a reputation for being the serious one from when he was very young... I think the expectation used to weigh on him when he was a kid but as he became older, he matured much faster than he ought to and now he expects to be in control at all times. It just makes him crazy to have to let go of it... especially when it concerns him."

Sandy had been lost in her memories when she spoke and her eyes cleared as she looked up at Macy

"Look at me... going on and on... It's just that I love my son and I think that it is high time he learns that once in a while, it is good to just let go and learn to be happy... anyways... dear, do you want something to drink?... or a piece of cake perhaps?"

"Oh it's alright Mrs. Lucas... I have to get going now... I have already told Stella to inform the boys and our teachers at school. Nick shouldn't be in any trouble for skipping out today. I'll leave you now... Oh... right... I forgot... the nurse suggested some medications for the symptoms and we stopped at a pharmacy on the way... I also got some cans of soup and some boxes of tissue... I'll just leave it here..."

"Thanks for everything dear... and come by later. I am sure Nick would want to see you again."

Macy blushed lightly before replying

"Of course Mrs. Lucas... I'll drop by with his books and homework tomorrow...bye now..."

"Bye Macy...take care"

As the door shut behind the brunette girl that Sandy was sure she would be seeing a lot more of in the future, Sandy rushed up the stairs to look in on her sleeping son.

It was the next day after school by the time Macy got an opportunity to go to the firehouse. She had been extremely busy with schoolwork, her sports practices and her part-time job at the family antiques store. Plus, there had also been that pesky detention she had gotten from coach. From what she had heard from Stella and the boys, Nick seemed to be having a whale of a time playing the irritated invalid. He had succeeded in getting on everybody's nerves in just one day and it would be at least three or four more days before he was well enough to be allowed to get out of bed.

She had heard from Stella that Mr. And Mrs. Lucas would have to go to Frankie's football match that afternoon and they didn't want to leave Nick alone at the firehouse. Stella and the boys hadn't particularly wanted to spend any more time around Hitler-Nick... so when Macy offered to spend the evening entertaining the invalid, they were all ready to hug her to death

"Macy... are you sure you wanna spend an entire evening at the firehouse?... You have no idea what you're getting yourself into... Nick had been insufferable throughout the day... Promise me you'll call or text if you need anything... or you need to be rescued... We'll come as soon as we can... ok?"

A worried Stella had called to make sure Macy was alright with being left alone with the irritated Nick for the evening and on receiving an affirmative answer, literally scrambled out of the firehouse with Joe and Kevin.

Half an hour later, a loaded down Macy was let into the firehouse by a very grumpy Nick, who just wanted to be left alone by now

"You did't deed to cobe by... I'b ogay... I cad dage gare of byself... do't deed a babysidder"

Macy took a couple of seconds to mentally translate that statement to 'You didn't need to come by...I'm okay... I can take care of myself... Don't need a babysitter'

The terse statement's effect was somehow lost by the fact that Nick sounded like a three year old and had coughed and sneezed a couple of times in the middle and was literally wheezing by the end of it. Macy was fighting to keep down a chuckle by the time he was done with his mini-rant and she plopped herself down on the couch, displaying her intent on staying there, whatever Nick said.

"Look... I promised your mom and dad that I would stay here till they got back... So I am gonna pretend I didn't hear that last statement that was so effectively made amidst coughs and sneezes. Now... we can do this the easy way or the hard way... take your pick..."

"ummm... What's the easy way and what's the hard one?"

But unfortunately due to Nick's blocked nose, it sounded like he'd said 'ubbb... what's the eady way add what's the haad ode?'

Macy couldn't control her smile if her life depended on it and she grinned at Nick sunny-ly before grabbing a big shopping she had brought along with her

"Well... the hard way is, I have brought you your homework and mine... so I'll just give it to you, you can pretend I'm not there and I'll just sit in one corner and work on it till I have to get back home... or..."

"Or?"

"Or... we can do it the easy way, which personally I think is a lot more fun... I have movies here, some of my mom's chicken soup, the number one comfort food which is guaranteed to make you feel better, some board games and lots of popcorn... so... what's it gonna be?"

A challenging eyebrow raised, Macy waited for Nick to make a very easy choice. Smiling a watery version of his famous half-smile, Nick replied

"Ogay... the eady way id is..."

"Awesome... now come on... let's get you upstairs and get started on having the most fun sick day ever!..."

They both trooped upstairs to Nick's area and after a bit of debate, decided to watch 'Kung fu Panda' again, for like the fiftieth time or something... Macy had made some popcorn for them and heated up the chicken soup for Nick and they were both comfortably ensconced in their recliners, enjoying a movie that they both loved, no matter how many times they saw it. Nick had always loved making stupid comments whenever they watched any movie as a group and it almost always devolved into a shouting match between him and Macy. But today, halfway through the movie, Macy glanced at a curiously quiet Nick to find him watching the movie with a serene smile on his face, the likes of which she had never seen before.

His stuffy nose and cold were much better after the soup and a dose of medicines and he was finally able to relax and enjoy the movie. Macy somehow knew, that this was the first time in a couple of days that he had genuinely been able to just let go and relax. His brothers' antics, his mother's anxious care and his father's blatant anxiety at their songwriter being sick had all been getting to Nick and Macy knew that all he needed was just some time alone, away from all of that, just focusing on getting better.

After a bit of crying on Macy's part when Oogway passed away (**_that part is like really sad... not outright bawling kinda sad... but reach in and squeeze your heart kinda sad_**) and some bit of cheering on for Po at the end during his climax fight against Tai-Lung the snow leopard, the movie got over and they both decided to watch another one. As Nick got up to change the disks in the player, Macy made more popcorn (**_they had ploughed through two huge bowls of it during the movie... the flu didn't seem to be affecting Nick's appetite for popcorn..._**) and checked her messages on the phone.

They each knew exactly what was to be done without it being explicitly told... kinda as if they understood each other's body language or something. As they settled back to watch the second movie, as older James Bond flick that was a favorite of his which he knew Macy also loved, Nick found that he felt... comfortable. Not just physically (**_which was a great improvement over that morning when he'd been feeling miserable_**) but also mentally (**_which was a very rare occurrence_**)

Nick knew that he was a take charge kind of person and that he hated being out of control at any point of time. He always liked to have everything planned out and spent most of his free time planning for the future... But now, here he was, feeling more relaxed than he had felt in a long time. It was all the same as it had been that morning... nothing had changed. Yet, he felt so much better than before. Glancing at the silent form of Macy next to him, he wasn't very surprised to find her asleep.

After all, she was almost as busy a person as he was, what with her school work, sports and her job. But she always found time for her friends and family. Nick couldn't remember a time when he had heard Macy say no to something that involved a friend who was in need or a family member who needed help. She was the one who cheerfully accepted to take care of her rowdy three year old twin cousins when her brother and sister-in-law had needed to go away for a couple of days... She was the one always around to help Stella whenever she needed her... She was the one who was here now, when he'd not even known that it was her company he'd needed.

That's right. The only thing that had changed since that morning was Macy. She had spent time with him and he was feeling loads better. She just seemed to have that magic touch, sprinkling fairy dust wherever she went... helping people and making them feel happier. Even now, sleeping peacefully on the recliner next to him, Nick thought she looked like an angel... no not an angel... a fairy. A tiny pocket sized fairy.

Nick smiled softly at her sleeping visage. He'd found his own personal Tinker bell... or was she his Wendy?

His mind full of ideas and melodies, Nick reached out to the coffee table in front for the ever present paper and pencil. This time, the lyrics flowed out, just as the melody just fit right. Fifteen minutes later, he was done with it. He didn't even need to play it out once to know... that it was perfect. For the first time ever, the page of lyrics and melodies was completely clean... no scratching, no erasures, not even any spelling mistakes. It was a perfectly neat piece of paper with beautiful lyrics and a lilting melody inscribed on it. His creativity let out onto paper, Nick found that he was exhausted now and drifted off to sleep, his last thoughts before nodding off, of a petite brunette who was in a similar pose next to him.

And that was how Stella, Joe, Kevin, Frankie and Mr and Mrs Lucas found them an hour later. The James Bond movie was still running, the bowl of popcorn pretty much untouched... a piece of paper lying in front of them with lyrics and a melody neatly written on it and Nick and Macy next to each other, sleeping on adjacent recliners, with identical serene smiles on their faces.

Stella and Sandy were too busy 'aww' ing at how cute the two of them looked while Kevin and Frankie were involved in a popcorn eating match, Joe was involved in a search for a camera so that he could take pictures for blackmail material later and Tom Lucas, reading the lyrics knew that they had another number one hit on their hands. He had been extremely anxious when Nick hadn't been able to write anything for the past couple of weeks and then he had fallen sick.

He wouldn't have been anxious of they hadn't had an album deadline hanging over the boys heads like a specter. Now, he could relax and allow the boys to have some time to themselves before they had to prepare for the next tour. As much as he hated pressurizing his sons, as the manager of their band, Tom felt he had the responsibility to make sure they got whatever they deserved and achieved whatever they were capable of... So if he had to put a little bit of pressure on them to make them realize their dreams he would do it... time and time again.

And from what he could see on the paper in front of him, he knew they were well on their way to achieving their goals. **'_Fly with me_'** he knew, was going to be perhaps their biggest hit ever and Tom knew that it was all thanks to the little girl sleeping on the recliner next to her son.

Tom knew how Nick felt about Macy and it was quite obvious to everyone how Macy felt about him but it would definitely be interesting to see how and when Nick would figure out that Macy liked him and that he liked her back the same way if not more. Smiling to himself, Tom Lucas put the piece of paper back where he had found it and sauntered down the stairs to get himself a drink. He wasn't worried about the song going missing or anything. He somehow had a feeling that Nick couldn't forget that song even if he wanted to. It had come from his heart and where he was sure it would stay for a long, long time, if not for a lifetime.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN : And that... is how the awesome song 'Fly with me' came to be... in my universe atleast... like it?... hate it?... review it... :)**_


End file.
